Saturday, December 31, 2005

watch out.

Dec 30, 12:32 PM EST

Pack of angry Chihuahuas attack officer

FREMONT, Calif. (AP) -- A pack of angry Chihuahuas attacked a police officer who was escorting a teenager home after a traffic stop, authorities said.

The officer suffered minor injuries, including bites to his ankle, Detective Bill Veteran said.

The five Chihuahuas escaped the 17-year-old boy's home and rushed the officer in the doorway Thursday, authorities said. The teenager had been detained after the traffic incident.

The officer was treated at a hospital and returned to work less than two hours later.







© 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

Wednesday, December 28, 2005

I am socks.

You Are Socks!
Cozy and warm... but easily lost.You make a good puppet.
What Crappy Christmas Gift Are You?





http://www.blogthings.com/whatcrappychristmasgiftareyouquiz/

Monday, December 19, 2005

Giotto love, part tres.


I'm having trouble making this image look as good as the real thing... sorry about the flash reflection. But isn't this beautiful? Inspired by an image in one of our Giotto books. I actually think this student was looking at a painting of another late medieval artist who influenced Giotto.....By a fourth grade student--one with some serious natural talent!!

Sunday, December 18, 2005

Help.

Does anybody out there know why the sidebar info. is way down on the page? The only thing I've done lately is add a blogroll and redo the links section. I can't figure it out. Does anybody have any ideas? Thanks.

Friday, December 16, 2005

Why didn't you tell me????


Wedding Girl, did you know you WON second place in a photoblog contest!!!?? I just accidentally found it while looking for your photoblog on google (to link to it here.)




Friends, go to
www.photoblogsmagazine.org/magazine/dec2005/deccontest.php

Congratulations, girl!!!!

You lend this blog such credibility.

Giotto love, part dos.




This one's by a fourth-grade student.

I'm glad we did these on black paper. I think it gives the paintings a sort of antiqued look; actually this one looks sort of washy, like real frescos by Giotto.


Thursday, December 15, 2005

Giotto love.



This is one of my favorite paintings inspired by Giotto....the ones we finished about a month ago. Acrylic on black paper, by a sixth-grade student.

It's a bit hard to tell in this image, but the halo is done with metallic gold paint.

More Giotto-inspired work to come!


Wednesday, December 14, 2005

hmmm

trying out some sweet new blog titles...subject to change.

Tuesday, December 13, 2005

aaahhhhh!!!

i changed the template and lost our links!!

links will be back soon...when i get some time.

Exam Review.



Yesterday:


Me: "Okay, someone tell me about the life of Rembrandt."

Third Grade Student: "Well, he was Dutch and lived in the city of Hamsterdam....."



(Gosh, Laura, I just can't stop thinking about Fur for some reason.)





Here are a few of the pencil self-portraits recently finished by 5th and 6th grade. I know we should have done more value shading, but honestly, just getting them to the stage you see here took a loooong time and I just didn't feel like we should spend any more class time on it. I am happy with the way they turned out, though.

The first portrait is a little light. In person, though, it's beautifully done.

I just bought a digital camera for the Lower School (reimbursed, of course) and am working on documenting the artwork of the children! I'm excited to keep visual records of our projects for posterity. :)

Monday, December 12, 2005

pic.
















NObody in my family photographs well.

Saturday, December 10, 2005

Sweet Boy.

On Friday, I walked into the office and found a little first grade boy sitting in one of our big leather chairs.

"Oh, buddy, are you in here because you're feeling sick?" I say.
He nods, looking miserable, and puts his hand over his stomach.
"Yes.....my waist hurts." I'm not sure I've heard correctly.
"What, sweetie? What hurts?"
"My waist. It's just really hurting me right now."


Lord, wherever he is right now, I pray his waist feels better.

Friday, December 09, 2005

Quote of the Day.

"I want to build the new iconography for the coming millenium."


---Thomas Kinkade,
quoted in Christianity Today

Wednesday, December 07, 2005

Sixth Graders are SOOOOO smart.

Me: Okay, so in review, tell me what happened at the end of Rembrandt's life?

Sixth Grade Student: Ummm.....He died?




I don't know if I've mentioned here that, while 2nd-6th grade is on a 4 year rotation for artists studied, the 1st grade art curriculum is the same each year.....built around the elements of design. Anyway, my POINT is that THEY have not studied Giotto and Rembrandt this semester, but Monet and Matisse. Here's our current Picture Study. A pastel drawing by that crazy Fauve, Henri Matisse.

Tuesday, December 06, 2005

Julie puts us on the spot.

Lately in faculty meeting, Julie has been handing out short articles about various philosophy-related issues--one article about "ideas," and articles about Charlotte Mason concepts like "Education is a life," "Education is an Atmosphere," and "Education is a Discipline." She has one of us read a paragraph or two aloud, then asks someone else to narrate (or tell back in our own words) what we've just read.....This is terrifying for lots of us with poor auditory processing skills! Anyway, it's what we do for about an hour: read paragraphs aloud, narrate aloud, discussing what we don't understand along the way. This process has helped all of us:

1. Have more empathy for our students who narrate history, Bible, literature, and picture studies in front of the class!
2. Understand more deeply what we are reading by processing and "telling back" in our own words. Which is the point of narration, of course. :)

See www.amblesideonline.com for more info about narrations.

Monday, December 05, 2005

Good News for the Art Teacher.

I've been giving private art lessons to a sixth-grade student, H. She entered one of the drawings we've been working on in an school-wide art contest at school..... a large color drawing of a tiger (I know, all of my private students are obsessed with wild felines.) Anyway, she attends a large public school.....and she won first place! Her drawing will go to district and hopefully on to state. I am not a huge art contest fan, particularly for younger children, but I'm really excited for this student! It's been a huge encouragement to her. She really has a ton of natural ability, and I think she needed this.

Leah, isn't it exciting????

Friday, December 02, 2005

Two Bloggers Unite in Real Space


I would just like to state on this blog that Wedding Girl is coming to visit Sweetpea in about a week, and Sweetpea is really, really excited about it.

(Above, Wedding Girl in her rockin' cloche hat.)


Thursday, December 01, 2005

Here is a present. . .


. . . from me to you. A bee-yootiful etching by Rembrandt, currently decorating my desktop. I love trees.

Tying the Knot


Even though I've been through the wedding process myself I'm constantly amazed by all that goes into getting a bride ready for the weddding day. I think it's great because it's fun to be a girl, but sometimes I think it's a little much. I like this photo because there are four different hands (four different people) trying to make this the perfect bow. They tied and untied the bow at least a dozen times frantically trying to get it right. I'm not saying that they're wrong for wanting it to be the most beautiful bow ever, I just think it's very interesting. As long as these things don't ruin your day and take away from what's really important it seems mostly harmless. Any thoughts, girls?

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